MOVES to transform empty offices in York city centre into flats for undergraduates face refusal because of fears that the area will be too noisy - even for students.

The buildings in George Hudson Street were left empty by City of York Council when it switched its headquarters in 2013 and the Grade Two listed structure has struggled to find tenants ever since.

It was hoped to give the place a new lease of life by transforming the upper three floors into 58 self-contained flats, plus a gym, laundry, shop, cycle store and other facilities.

The site is convenient for York St John University and regular buses to York University also run nearby.

But there are national guidelines on the amount of noise that the tenants would be expected to put up with - and council bosses fear the scheme by developers the Forshaw Land and Property Group fails to measure up.

Environmental health officers spent a weekend at the site to measure the row coming from traffic, pubs, clubs, and crowds of revellers.

Even though one of the busiest clubs was closed on the night in question, the maximum levels were breached a number of times during both evenings.

The developers are planning to glaze the new-look building with Pilkington Glass to reduce the racket. But officers fear that the students will still experience sleepless nights.

City councillors are being recommended to throw out the proposals at a planning meeting on Thursday.

Consultants Knight Frank had argued that the employment use condition of the site should be set aside to allow the vacant historic building to be brought back into use to help solve a shortage of student accommodation they say exists in York.

Monitoring revealed that one Friday night the guidelines were breached 16 times, with noise levels topping 96 decibels - more than the equivalent of standing 200ft away from a subway train.

But council development officer Victoria Bell said: “Noise has no adverse effect - so long as the exposure does not cause any change in behaviour or attitude .”

At present, the scheme is recommended for refusal but the developers are seeking a second opinion on whether more could be done to cut the noise and the findings will be presented to Thursday’s meeting.